American Gods
by strcwberrychuu
Summary: In which, Heejin, Hyunjin, Haseul, and ViVi take roadtrip through America, where everything's just a little bit... off.
1. Encounter 101

Vivi had been the one to suggest a roadtrip, breaking a normally calm demeanor to practically beg the other three to come with her.

And now, Hyunjin sat behind the wheel of a small blue rental car, the New England spring fading into summer, and the daffodils wilting on the side of the road.

"Beware of bears this summer!" the radio crackled, "Sightings have become more frequent all over the state!"

Heejin sucked her teeth impatiently, changing the station to something that maybe would pass for classic rock.

"I hear that New England's a beautiful sight during the fall." Vivi said, laying down in the back seat with her head in Haseul's lap.

"It's still pretty now, I just wish this forest would end." Hyunjin replied, messing with the headlights before slumping back in the driver's seat.

"Hyunjin- slow down." Heejin said quietly, patting her hand against the other's arm.

The girls all followed Heejin's stare to the carcass of a deer on the side of the road. Except, that it wasn't alone. The smallest person they'd ever seen crouched over the body, facing away from the four in the car.

Hyunjin turned off the radio, practically stopping the car as they inched closer. The man - no, creature - turned to the girls. Its head was two times the size it should have been, and its mouth smiled to show rows of sharp little teeth. Dear god, the thing was covered in blood. It stood, and the girls sat frozen, watching as it shuffled towards them.

"Jesus Christ," Haseul said, her eyes wide.

Vivi glanced at the doors, then into the forest behind the creature. In the brush, more of those empty, blood-covered smiles stared at her.

"Drive." She said, jumping forward to lock the car doors. "Hyunjin, drive!"

As the small creature reached for the door handle, Hyunjin hit the gas, launching the girls away.

Vivi was the only one to look back, where twelve of the creatures converged on the carcass of the dead deer.


	2. Encounter 102

"What the fuck was that?" Heejin asked once the little creatures had faded from view.

"Do we really want to know?" Hyunjin muttered as Haseul pulled out her phone.

The car lapsed into silence as Haseul scrolled. Heejin played with her hair, braiding and undoing the same section of her hair, while Vivi leaned back in her seat and simply stared at the ceiling.

"_Rumours of Melonheads date back before the colonization of New England. Reports claim tiny men with heads roughly the size of watermelons exist in the mountains and deep forests. While sightings are few and far between, Melonheads are practically synonymous with cannibalism due to a claim that they ate one witness' friend alive._"

Haseul paused, exchanging a worried look with Vivi before continuing, "_The most recent reported sighting claimed Melonheads generally feed on roadkill — hoping to attract curious humans to feed upon. Melonheads are the leading cryptids in certain New England states._"

"That's stupid." Heejin said, "There's no such things as 'Melonheads' — it was probably some weird cult. They're- They're- Hyunjin help me out here."

"Are there any photos of them?" Hyunjin asked, pulling over and turning the hazard lights on.

"No, but there's a drawing from one of the witnesses." Haseul said, turning her phone towards the front of the car.

"Heejin," Hyunjin muttered softly, pulling out her own phone. "I think we saw a Melonhead."

Hyunjin held her phone next to Haseul's, where a slightly blurry photo of the creature almost exactly paralleled the drawing.

"Let's just get to the next town." Vivi said, looking away from the phones and towards the forest. "I don't want to be out here when it gets dark."


	3. Encounter 201

The sky was a dark orange when the girls pulled out of the forest, a Dairy Queen sign looming in the sunset.

Heejin was the first to start laughing, the other three following as they escaped the dark trees and turned towards a motel. That is, until the multicoloured lights of a police officer turned on behind them. The laughter died as they pulled over, Hyunjin watching as one officer got out of his car.

"Haseul, my liscense is in my bag. Can you-"

Haseul handed the liscense up, and Hyunjin quickly dropped it onto the dashboard, where it was easily viewable and accessable.

The cop knocked on the window, and the girls jumped, Hyunjin rolling it down slowly.

"Pretty late for a school night, girls." The officer said, raising an eyebrow.

"We're all graduated, sir. I'm 20." Hyunjin smiled tightly. "We're on a roadtrip, looking for a motel to spend the night."

The officer frowned. "There's a motel across from the McDonalds. You girls look... shaken up. Is everything okay?"

"We almost hit a deer in the forest. Just barely missed it." Hyunjin lied. "Have we done anything wrong, officer?"

"Just didn't recognize the car. You have a good night, girls." The officer looked back at the squad car and shook his head, the lights immediatly turning off.

The cop tilted his hat and smiled at the girls and— were his teeth sharper now? Hyunjin blinked, and the cop was walking back to his car.


	4. Encounter 202

The motel was right where the cop said it would be, across from the McDonalds, and next to the local high school. Though it didn't exactly look like a high school. There were bars on the windows, and metal detectors at each entrance. There was only one sign to mark the building on the lawn.

"MOBIUS HIGH SCHOOL OF THE SCIENCES"

"Is... someone breaking into the high school?" Haseul asked as the car rolled to a stop in the motel's parking lot.

A small girl with space buns was attempting to jump and grab the window's bars.

The four got out of the car, and watched as the girl continued to fall short of the window.

"Need some help?" Hyunjin asked, startling the smaller girl.

"Are you offering?" She replied, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, I guess so." Hyunjin said.

"Good! Help me up — I wanna see!" The girl said, pulling out a camera.

Hyunjin shrugged at Heejin and knelt down below the window so the strange girl could stand on her back.

"What are you doing?" Haseul said as the girl started taking photos between the bars.

"I'm a blogger." The girl said, "I photograph and share weird shit that happens all over New England."

"But you're, like, twelve?" Heejin said.

"I'm nineteen." The girl said, hopping down from Hyunjin's back. "My professional name's Froggo."

The girl - Froggo - slipped the camera back into her bag just before the cop car pulled into the parking lot.

"I thought there were four of you." The officer from early said, leaning out of his window.

"Yeah, we were meeting our friend, Mary, at the hotel before we continued on tomomorrow." Hyunjin smiled, wrapping an arm around Froggo's shoulders.

"I came through the bus station. Work held me up for the first day of the trip." Froggo supplied at the cop's unconvinced face.

"I see." He frowned, "My apologies, girls."

He tipped his hat once more before pulling away from the parking lot, Froggo turning towards Hyunjin as he left.

"Thank you. Can I offer you all some dinner in exchange?"

"Actually, yes." Vivi said, stopping Heejin from declining, "We've got something... weird we'd like to talk to you about."

"Perfect." Froggo grinned, her eyes lighting up. "How does Denny's sound?"


End file.
